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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, center, heads out of BAE Systems in Nashua, N.H. after stumping for Republican candidate for governor of New Hampshire, Walt Havenstein, second from right, on Thursday, July 31, 2014. Christie has been traveling around the ... more >

A majority of New Jersey voters don’t want their Gov. Chris Christie to run for president and would pick Hillary Clinton if the two faced off in a presidential election, found a new poll.

About 55 percent of New Jersey voters said Mr. Christie, a Republican, would not be a good president and 49 percent said he shouldn’t run, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The poll found 39 percent of the state’s voters said their two-term governor would be a good president and 46 percent said he should pursue the White House.

If Mr. Christie does throw his hat in the ring, he’d have a hard time beating Mrs. Clinton in his home state.

The poll found that New Jersey voters would back Mrs. Clinton in a matchup against Mr. Christie 50 percent to 42 percent.

Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Christie are eyeing a presidential run but neither has declared their candidacy. Mrs. Clinton, a former first lady, U.S. senator from New York and secretary of state, remains the early favorite to capture the Democratic nomination.

In the solidly blue Garden State, Mr. Christie fared best with Republican voters, who told the pollsters that he would be a good president 72 percent to 23 percent.

Democratic voters said Mr. Christie would not be a good president 79 percent to 16 percent and independent voters agreed 55 percent to 39 percent.

“As Gov. Christopher Christie traipses around the nation, his presidential potential seems alive, but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the adopted girl next door, easily beats him in his home state,” said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Gov. Christie does better against Clinton in New Jersey than the other Republicans. Here he looks like another Woodrow Wilson.”